India will kick off its tour of New Zealand with first T20I set to take place from Friday. Ahead of the match, let us look at players to watch out from both sides during the series.
Ishan Kishan
This year has been a tough one for Kishan. After shining in bilateral series, the batter was not included in squads for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup. But with 430 runs in 14 matches with three fifties, he is among one of India’s batters in T20Is. It will be interesting how this southpaw will play in NZ conditions.
Shubman Gill
This lanky Punjab batter has had a dream start to his ODI career, with Man of the Series awards against West Indies and Zimbabwe. Gill also performed well in domestic T20 tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 260 runs in six matches, with one century and fifty. It will be interesting how Gill will respond to international cricket’s challenges in shorter format.
Rishabh Pant
Despite huge success in Tests and increasing momentum in ODIs, this star wicketkeeper-batter has failed to live upto his image of a hard-hitting batter in the T20I format, having a strike rate of only 127.12 and 940 runs with three fifties in 64 matches to his name. This series is a good chance for him to make a statement with a blazing knock or two.
Glenn Phillips
At 650 runs in 19 matches at an average of 46.42 with a century and five fifties, Phillips is the most prolific NZ batter in T20Is this year. His 104 off 64 balls against Sri Lanka in ICC T20 World Cup was perfect example of mixing power-hitting with anchoring, two different styles of batting. It will be his aim to climb up in the T20I ranks with some more impressive knocks.
Finn Allen
This 23-year-old batter lit up the ICC T20 World Cup in the campaign opener, smashing 42 off just 16 balls against Australia, which proved to be helpful in handing a heavy defeat to defending champions. His hard-hitting ability at the top could come really handy to Kiwis in home conditions.
Lockie Ferguson
This pacer had a decent T20 WC campaign as he took seven wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 8.36. With veteran Trent Boult not playing the series, responsibility will be much heavier on Lockie. How he complements Tim Southee as his ‘partner in pace’ would be interesting.
